Apparatus for economizing power in precooling plants.



A. PAGET.

APPARATUS POP PooNoMIzING PowPR 1N PnBoooLING PLANTS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17, 1910.

970,807, Patenad sept 2o, 1910.

, To all whom 'it' concern:` l

ARTHUR rAGE'r, or sAN PATENT. OFFICE.

rnAivcIsco, CALIFORNIA.

ArrAnA'rUs roancoNomIzrNG Powrzn 1N rnEcooLxNG PLANTS.

Specitcation ot Lettersl'atenti.' Patetedlspt. 20 1910.`

l ,Appuaaao'n maa January 11, 1910. serial N9. 536,510.

. Be it known thatA I, Amami Faser, lciti- 'zen of the United States,residin at San Francisco, in' the county`of San rane-isco y'and State ofCalifornia, have'invented a' new and useful A 'paratus for EconomizingPower in Precoo 1n Plants,'of which the following is a speci cation insuch full and clear terms as will enable those skilled in the art toconstruct and use the same.

l This invention relates to an -apparatus and lmethod of economizingpower 1n precooling plants, the object .being to provide means forreventing the indefinite accumulation ofp and ,to make an economical useof the waste ice thus produced. a

It will be'understood by those skilled in theart that in precoolingrefrigerator cars preparatory to shi ment, it is necessary 4make use ofconsi erable quantities of air cooled to a low temperature. This isaccom- `plished by passing the air over ammonia coils, which a'remaintained at eslovvr a temperature as possible, and the air 1s blowndirectly to the cars to be cooled. The result of this operation is thatlarge quantities of frost collect on the cooling pipes, and when thisaccumulation of frost gets too thick, the

efliciency of the pipes in cooling' the air is very much reduced, owingto the fact that the coils are more or.less insulated by the'accumulation of ice around them, thus maklow that of the formation ofice. It therefore becomes necessary to periodically ,cut the ice off'thecoils in order to reduce the air passing across the coils to the'desired "low temperature. Since this accumulation ofl ice is quiteVconsiderable, its loss becomes an importantI matteri in a refrigerationplant. Means are therefore provided in the lnvention herein disclosed toremove the ice from said pipes by means of a solution of some kind whichdoes not readily freeze. Such salts as ,calcium chlorid or sodiumchlorid or other salts of such character, are

`used for this purpose. The cold solution thus produced 1s made use ofin cooling the refrigerant supplied the cooling coils.

In the drawing, in-which the same nulmeral of reference is applied tothe same portion throughout the several views, there 1s shown a s1deelevation of -a precooling plant equipped with the means herein menltioned for removing the frost from the cool-1 frost on the ammoniapipes,

ing it diicult to vcool the air to a point beingcoils, and for makinguse of the cold solution thus obtained'.

The numeral 1 represents the ground on lwhich the building 2-is erected,said building having floors 3 and 4, separate apartments -5, 6 and 7being provided for the -installatlon of the compressor 8, the condenser'coils 9 and the ammonia receiver 10. From the ammonia receiver asuitably valved pipe 11 leads to the liquid cooler 12, to the lower setof cooling coils 13, and from there to the upper set of cooling ycoils14. This latter set of` cooling coils is. then connected by means of avalved pipe 15 with the compressor 8. This system of precoolin forms-thea subject matter of another app ication for atent, and is notclaimed herein.

T e uids to be cooled are passed over the coils 13 and 14, and since thewarm air contains considerable quantities of moisture, a thick layer offrost accumulates on the pipes 13 and 14. 4This la er of frost soonbecomes so thick that the alr cannot be cooled much below the freezingpoint of-water, andmeans nl ust y be provided to cut the frost of thepipes in order that the bare iron may be exposed to the passing fluid.This means consists of a box 15, having drip pipes 16 and 17 extendingover the coils 14, a second box 18 having pipes 20r and 21 leading fromthe box 18 over the coils 13. The floor 3 is inclined toward the centerin the same manner as the floor 4, from which latter the pipe 19delivers the solution from that fioor to the Hoor below. A ipe P22 leadsto the liquid cooler 12 from t e floor 3, and a pipe 23 leads from theliquid cooler to a sump 24.`

A pump 25 lifts the water from'the sump 24 throughva pipe -26 to a tank27 from which tank pi es 28 and 28 returns the solution to the oXes 15and 18.

The solution used to cuff the frost oli" the pi es is calcium or sodiumchlorid, or other sa ts of this character, which form solutions which donot readily freeze. When the layer of frost on the pipes 13 and 14becomes too thick, the solution is allowed to drip over the If vthiswarm liquid ammonia were then allowed to lpass to the coils 13 and 14,it

y would mean aconsiderable` loss ofi power in kthe coils. f

the temperature thereof to that of Therefore the cold solution formed.in removing the frost from the coils 13 and 14 is used to reduce thetemperature reducin of the liquid ammonia in the cooler 12 to avtemperaturel as nearthat of the coils as possible, before it ispermitted to pass intosaid coils 13 and 14. It will be understood bythose skilled in the art that the solution passed over the coilswillrequire' additions of the substance u-sed to preventit from freezingWhenever it becomes too weak to be effective; for: the solution may bestrengthened by evaporation, as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Leters Patent of the United States, is as folows: l. In anapparatus for economizing power in refrigeration plants, a series yofcooling coils, means to supply said coils with a re-V frigerant, aliquid cooler through which said refrigerant passes on its-way to thecooling coils, drippipes over the cooling coils, and

' pipes to4 pass the solution` from the drip plpes through the liquidcooler, substantially as set` forth.

Y 2. In an apparatus for economizingpower i in refrigeration plants, aseries-of cooling coils, meansto supply said-coils with a rel frigerant,a cooler through which said re; frlgerant passes on its way to thecooling coils, means to eriodically remove accumu` vlations of ice lromthe cooling coils, and means to deliver `theice and solutionv 'from saidcoils to the cooler to utilize the cold stored in 'such'accumulations oficeto cool I the refri erant on Iits way tothe cooling coils, as.escribed. a

3. In an apparatus for economizing power in precooling plants, a seriesof cooling coils,

means to compress the cooling agent, a

liquid cooler connected with said compressor and said coils, drip pipesover the coils, and means to pass the solution from .the drip pipesthrough the liquid cooler, as set forth.

4. In an apparatus for economizing power` in precooling plants, a seriesof cooling coilsi y ARTHUR AGET. Witnesses j 0. P. GRIFFIN,

J. W. MAC INNrs.

